Professional Herb Gatherers!

Of all the elixirs, the Dragon Heart Pill is definitely one of the most expensive.

You can only get this thing in the Vast Heaven Holy Land. Even if you go to the Heavenly Medicine Palace and ask Palace Master Wu Qun to refine ten pills for you, he still can't produce them!

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the Dragon Heart Pill refined by Palace Master Wu Qun, but rather that the Heavenly Medicine Palace simply couldn't gather enough ingredients for ten servings!

One serving of this pill costs over two million... The Dragon Heart Pill also has a nickname: the Great Wealth and Honor Pill!

This stuff is indeed the best elixir for restoring and strengthening the soul, but look around, across the Four Continents, nobody uses it...

Because this thing has a similar effect to the Snake Soul Pill, which can also restore Snake Soul Pill, only the strengthening effect is much weaker.

The problem is that the cost of one Dragon Heart Pill is enough to make a thousand Snake Soul Pills!

Therefore, apart from the Vast Heaven Holy Land, it is absolutely impossible for anyone to give the Dragon Heart Pill to their disciples!

But Chu Xinghe said that even after Ma Liang, that bastard, got injured, he still had a chance to become his Lucky General Ma!

The cost of one Dragon Heart Pill is two million, and ten pills are taken each day...

That's twenty million in one day!

Damn... if my junior Junior Brother Ma Liang ate this for a whole month... I don't know if he'd even take off, but I, Chu Xinghe, would take off immediately!

Therefore, ten pills is the limit that Ma Liang can withstand, which is why Chu Xinghe requires Ma Liang to consume the maximum amount of Dragon Heart Pills!

Regardless of whether it's the limit or not, just tell me how powerful the Dragon Heart Pill was after my Junior Brother Ma Liang took it!

Just as Chu Xinghe had arranged for Ma Liang to take ten Dragon Heart Pills every day, he immediately noticed that his Misfortune Compass had started spinning faster!

Friends...

After Ma Liang was injured, he successfully transformed from a major threat into Lucky General Ma!

Even Ma Liang has become my lucky charm, Chu Xinghe. Tell me, how can I possibly lose this round?

Of course, Ma Liang's matter was just a minor episode. After arranging things for Ma Liang, Chu Xinghe announced that he was going to the ninth floor of the Technique Repository Tower for secluded cultivation...

Chu Xinghe had barely stepped into the Technique Repository Tower when he immediately slipped out of the Vast Heaven Holy Land...

Pine City is a large city on the Blazing Sun Continent. Because it is very close to the Pine City Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range, it is a gathering place for countless alchemists from all over the country.

The Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range are a renowned source of medicinal herbs throughout the Four Continents. You can find almost all the common medicinal herbs found throughout the Four Continents in the Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range.

Every year, some rare medicinal herbs even appear in the Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range.

Therefore, this place naturally attracts countless alchemists and even professional herb gatherers to search for spiritual herbs.

Because of the Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range, Pine City has become a huge medicinal herb trading market. As a result, countless alchemists have come here for convenience!

"Brother, the price of this cowhair grass has gone up way too much this year... Last year it was fifteen spirit stones, but this year it's eight spirit stones? That's more than doubled!"

"My esteemed alchemist, this year's rainfall wasn't as abundant as last year, so the yield of cowhair grass has decreased significantly. This is truly the price we're offering this year. You've been buying so much material from us every year, which is why we're only offering you the price for eight. If anyone else asked, I'd just say six..."

"Breaking news, breaking news... Someone has discovered Cloud Poria Water deep within the Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range... a whole small bottle of it!"

"Holy crap... who is it... didn't they just post it?"

"A person's fate is predetermined. I've spent my whole life gathering herbs in the Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range, and I've never even seen Cloud Poria Water, let alone Cloud Foothill Water..."

"Old Liu, you'll probably be even angrier when I tell you this: the place where they discovered Cloud Poria Water is right there in the North Mountain area you frequent!"

Is it really that weird?

"Freshly made Spirit Recovery Pills, quite effective, twenty pills for one spirit stone, excellent value for money... Don't miss out..."

"Accepting apprentices... One hundred spirit stones to teach basic herb gathering techniques!"

Right now, a trade fair is being held in Pine City!

Countless alchemists and professional herb gatherers from all over the country gather here.

The profession of professional herb gatherer is a derivative of that of alchemist.

These professional herb gatherers are usually people who lack the talent to become proper alchemists and end up becoming professional herb gatherers out of necessity.

When the Grand Elder was teaching Chu Xinghe, he said, "If you want to learn alchemy, you must first learn to identify herbs!"

If you can't even distinguish medicinal herbs, how can you become an alchemist?

Everyone knows that if you become a Third Rank alchemist, you'll never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of your life, and you might even become a person of high status.

But why are alchemists still so rare?

This is because alchemists are a rare profession, and the cost of developing a high level of skill in this field is simply too high.

To become an alchemist, you first need talent!

But talent is just the most basic step. Beyond talent, you must first learn to identify medicinal herbs...

Two-thirds of the world's alchemists fail at the very step of learning to identify medicinal herbs.

First of all, with hundreds of thousands of medicinal herbs, even if you are exceptionally gifted, do you know how tedious and boring it would be to learn them all?

Many alchemists are discouraged at the very first step of identifying herbs...

For example... Chu Xinghe!

Chu Xinghe swore to the heavens that if it weren't for the inheritance, he wouldn't have been able to learn any alchemy at all!

I can't even tell the difference between Moon Nether Grass, Evening Primrose, and Moon Shadow Grass!

Chu Xinghe said, "I was told to quit on the very first day... If it weren't for the immense pressure from the Grand Elder, I would have dropped out of school already..."

Even if you can endure this tedious learning, do you think it's just a matter of rote memorization?

Learning to identify medicinal herbs actually requires a certain intuition. Why is it that some alchemists can tell at a glance which herbs should be paired with which herbs, while others can't do it even after a lifetime?

This is also part of talent; herbal identification simply teaches you how to easily recognize medicinal herbs.

For example, even though they are both Evening Primroses, the first Evening Primrose might react with other herbs, while the second evening Evening Primrose, which looks exactly the same, might not.

Because identifying herbs is a matter of rote memorization and is only the first step, and since every medicinal herb is not exactly the same, an alchemist not only needs to identify herbs, but also needs to be able to understand their properties.

This is the main reason why the Muyue Kingdom has always been ahead of everyone else. We won't go into the details of their pill-refining techniques, but just their methods of identifying and using medicinal materials are unmatched in the Four Continents Muyue Kingdom.

Even Chu Xinghe is no match!

Every time Chu Xinghe refines pills, he has Mu Bai select the most suitable medicinal materials, because the talent of the Muyue Kingdom is undeniable!

Heritage is heritage, talent is talent...

Having a lineage doesn't mean you can directly compete with natural talent!

So out of ten alchemists, seven were turned away just for identifying herbs!

An alchemist might spend ten or even twenty years learning to identify herbs... It's not uncommon for people to start as apprentice medicine makers and continue learning to identify herbs even when they're old and gray.

In this situation, some people who realized they didn't have the talent to become alchemists eventually quit and became professional herb gatherers.

Although they were unable to refine elixirs and become alchemists.

However, their basic skills were at least quite solid, so the profession of herb gatherer came into being.

With their basic knowledge of herbal identification, these herbalists were able to find rare medicinal herbs that others wouldn't easily discover in the Ten Thousand Pine Mountain Range or other places, and then sell them to alchemists, which was a way of making a living.

Chu Xinghe was walking through the market in Pine City, looking at the countless low-level alchemists and herb gatherers.

Herb gatherers usually have a small grass symbol on their chest, which indicates that they are certified herb gatherers!

What is this? Why does this thing need certification?

Brother, there are many uncertified herb gatherers in this world. You can buy herbs from them, and they may even sell them for a lower price.

However, you need to understand one thing: it may be cheap, but if there are any problems with the medicinal herbs, then you'll just have to accept your bad luck.

Herb gatherers, however, were part of their own organization.

Professional herbalists who join the organization will be given a herbalist badge. Herbalists with this badge are protected by the Herb Gathering Alliance. Similarly, if you buy herbs from these badged professional herbalists and any problems arise, the Herb Gatherers' Alliance will cover you!

Not only do herbalists have their own alliances, but alchemists also have their own alliances.

Look at those alchemists outside; they all have the symbol of the Medicine Star on their chests.

One medicine star represents First Rank alchemist; the higher the grade, the more stars are corresponding to it.

Once you reach the Eighth Rank, the star on your chest will be replaced with a moon. Any alchemist with a moon symbol on their chest will be an honored guest wherever they go!

Ninth Rank- grade alchemist should theoretically display a blazing sun emblem.

However, there are only a handful of Ninth Rank alchemists in the entire Alchemist Alliance, because such super-powerful alchemy masters are either treasures of major powers or renowned figures in their respective regions.

The Alchemist Alliance has no right to manage people like this...

Therefore, true Ninth Rank- grade alchemists rarely display the blazing sun symbol.

Chu Xinghe had never been in contact with the Alchemist Alliance, but Chu Xinghe knew that the Alchemist Alliance was probably the largest alchemist organization in the Four Continents.

They may not be the strongest, but they certainly have the most alchemists under their command.

Chu Xinghe had never met the leader of the Alchemist Alliance. It wasn't that he couldn't meet him, but rather that such a person wasn't qualified to meet Chu Xinghe.

Chu Xinghe vaguely remembered that this alliance leader had sent invitations to the Vast Heaven Holy Land many times, hoping to invite Chu Xinghe to guide the All-Under-Heaven Alchemist Conference. This alliance leader seemed to be named Zhu Zhen.

Because he utterly detested alchemy, Chu Xinghe had never even tried it. However, to save face, he still arranged for Mu Bai Chu Xinghe go a few times... This could be considered giving the other party enough face.

Today, Chu Xinghe's target is the Alchemist Alliance, because the headquarters of the Alchemist Alliance is located in Pine City!

Chu Xinghe exclaimed, "This time, I've personally delivered an immense fortune to your Alchemist Alliance!"

However, when Chu Xinghe, who was hiding his identity, asked to see Zhu Zhen after arriving at the Alchemist Alliance, the Alchemist Alliance replied that Zhu Zhen had recently taken all the alchemy masters of the Alchemist Alliance on a trip and would not be back for a while!

The people from the Alchemist Alliance didn't look down on Chu Xinghe, who didn't wear any badges or markings; in fact, they were quite friendly.

But this result is quite frustrating...

Chu Xinghe declared, "It's not that I, Chu Xinghe, didn't want to bestow upon you immense wealth... it's entirely your own fault for missing out on such an opportunity!"

Just as Chu Xinghe helplessly preparing to find a new target, a suspicious-looking person stealthily followed him up...